Ch.131Chapter 131. Arsil’s Atonement

Until I opened my mouth, I felt like I couldn’t breathe due to the tension and fear pressing down on my abdomen.

Taking deep breaths didn’t help at all.

It only became an obstacle preventing me from saying what needed to be said.

But once I painfully began, Arsil felt her trembling subside and herself becoming calmer.

“I come from a slum called Sewage Alley, a place I don’t even know where it is.”

It took so much time just to say these words.

“The first sin I must confess to you all is that I betrayed the hero Luciana Estelle.”

Until this point, people had assumed the Saint had merely quarreled with the Hero.

The stereotype that since she was a Saint, and Saints are good people, she must be troubled by a disagreement.

However, what followed was enough to shock everyone.

“Immediately after defeating the Demon Lord, our hero party cut off Luciana’s limbs, claiming her usual behavior was dangerous.”

“…Cut off her limbs?”

Even Airan was surprised.

He had only heard about the betrayal, never dreaming it took such a horrific form as dismemberment.

Then what about the Hero standing here with perfectly intact limbs?

Everyone except the hero party members glanced at Lucy.

“Each party member removed one limb, and I was responsible for the right arm.”

She needed to stop the Saint who had betrayed her.

However, Rainford knew that if he intervened here, it would look like he was actively endorsing these actions.

He was furious at being unable to do anything about the traitor before him.

“Shield Knight Rainford tore off Lucy’s remaining leg last, then took her to the island, intending to make a spectacle of her as a traitor.”

This time, the audience’s gaze turned to Rainford.

Anger and anxiety were visible on his face, which had turned red and blue.

The Saint took a deep breath.

From now on was the main part.

“The person who saved the Hero was Porter Lee Rin. Though not even a combatant at the time, he desperately broke through the four strongest humans, even using skill scrolls, and later perfectly healed the Hero’s injuries.”

Lucy closed her eyes.

She remembered that time.

Rin, who had pulled her out from the pit of betrayal and despair, and cared for her with utmost devotion.

Rin, who only looked at her.

Her heart grew warmer.

Meanwhile, Tigria was hanging her head.

The doll was feeling regret and shame.

The doll, who had only cared about researching emotions like affection with no regard for anything else, was now ashamed of her past behavior.

“I am from a slum, and I felt guilty about being chosen as a Saint and escaping alone. After defeating the Demon Lord, I wanted to use my recognized achievements to establish an academy in Sewage Alley and revitalize it. The Shield Knight promised me the establishment and support of an academy, and I fell for it, betraying the Hero. But the price for my greed and sin was severe.”

Her body began trembling again.

Her legs were shaking, but Arsil tried to face her sins.

“Even after betraying the Hero, I received no compensation. He kept making promises while I continued to serve the Shield Knight. When I pressed for my reward, the Shield Knight eventually showed me ten carriages leaving the island, claiming they were headed to Sewage Alley.”

Rainford was taking mental notes of everything Arsil was saying.

He needed to remember it all so he could systematically refute it when his turn came.

“Where did those carriages go? I only learned later that they had circled around and returned to the island. Because by then, Sewage Alley was already destroyed. Less than a year after I left, the Church Nation, trying to silence my origins, attacked and destroyed it together with the Empire.”

Ravin and Rin’s eyes grew sad.

It was a time when, despite hardships and shortcomings, they weren’t alone.

“Then why did the Empire destroy Sewage Alley? It’s because—”

“Arsil! What you’re about to say could be considered treason against the imperial family! Think carefully! You’re deceiving everyone gathered here and the Goddess!”

Rainford interrupted urgently and rebuked her.

She’s going to reveal that too?

More importantly, how much does she know?

The Shield Knight was flustered by how much detail the Saint seemed to know, more than he had anticipated.

However, an unexpected figure stopped him.

“Saint, please ignore him and tell the truth as you know it.”

“Your Highness?”

It was Gyanal.

The princess who had usually been intimidated by Rainford now had a changed look in her eyes after hearing Arsil’s confession.

“There were four central figures in the Alley. Me, Arsil; Ravin, the ruler of Valtercrois; Porter Lee Rin; and… Rina. This Rina was actually the deposed Crown Princess Rinasien Karlun.”

People couldn’t keep up with how many shocking revelations they were experiencing today, as one major truth after another was unveiled.

“Rinasien, an illegitimate child, had fled to the Alley to escape threats to her life, and we took her in. But when all the imperial heirs died, the Empire came looking for her. And to erase her blemish, they eliminated Sewage Alley together with the Church Nation.”

Her trembling worsened.

Sweat poured down like rain.

Arsil was shaking so badly that Rin and Naidrian looked at her with concern.

“Only Ravin and Lee Rin barely survived that horror and scattered. Ravin went to Valtercrois and became its current ruler, while Rin, after much hardship, became a porter for the hero party. However, the porter had to wear a mask to survive from someone. But this stupid woman didn’t try to recognize the truth about the Alley or who the porter beside her was, only pursuing her own greed.”

The Saint paused for a moment.

Her vision was blurry.

People below the platform noticed her shoulders shaking.

Finally, Arsil broke down sobbing.

“I… not knowing any of this… called the porter incompetent and shameless… tormented him throughout our journey… ignored him… humiliated him in front of others… eventually making others disrespect the porter too… The most precious person…! I hurt him and… pushed him to the extreme…”

No one rushed the weeping Saint.

Hot tears stung her eyes.

Wiping her face with her sleeve, Arsil glared at Rainford.

“The reason the porter has been wearing a mask all this time! It’s because that Shield Knight was the imperial commander who came to Sewage Alley looking for Rinasien and destroyed the Alley under her orders. He knew Rin’s face, so Rin risked being killed if discovered. Nevertheless! Even with his homeland’s enemy right before him, Rin never neglected his duties as a porter.”

The pain was heavy, but the trembling had stopped.

“The person who persuaded the Hero to reform the hero party to face the demon race, despite having her limbs cut off by traitors, was the porter. The person who fed and saved people using his own money, amidst all the criticism and disrespect, was the porter.”

Tears were still flowing.

“Who is the sinner! I am the sinner who didn’t try to know anything, ignored the truth right in front of me, and made excuses.”

She knelt down.

Arsil pressed her forehead to the floor.

“I’m sorry… Lucy!”

And with her last strength, she apologized.

“I’m sorry, Rin…”

With those words, only the Saint’s sobbing echoed across the square.

Everyone was speechless.

A hero party that betrayed their Hero, and a porter who alone rescued, cared for, and reunited them.

Moreover, this porter had carried out his duties while keeping his enemy close and enduring contempt from others.

And they’re saying this porter is a criminal who embezzled funds?

It might be possible, but after the Saint’s confession, it was emotion rather than reason that was moving people’s hearts.

‘This is dangerous!’

Sensing the crisis, Rainford tried to step forward, but someone beat him to it.

“I too am undoubtedly a sinner.”

The elven archer Naidrian stepped forward.

Having witnessed Arsil’s confession, she finally broke through her timidity and stood before everyone.

“As the Saint said, I betrayed the Hero. It was a sin committed after the Shield Knight promised me land to save my diminishing elven forest and my race. The land I received was a dead earth filled with resentment—the destroyed Sewage Alley. And even that was taken from me when I was accused of being an accomplice to embezzlement.”

Now that she had spoken it aloud, she realized how foolish it all was.

Humans cannot live every moment rationally.

Even those who criticize others for making obviously stupid decisions would find, if their own life decisions were laid out in sentences, how many nonsensical, foolish, and obvious mistakes they’ve made.

“I researched tree species that could grow anywhere to create a new homeland. But the research costs were enormous, and I couldn’t even begin until an investor appeared with a letter. That letter of encouragement and recognition for me, who had never been properly treated, became the only reason for my life. And it turned out that investor was the porter.”

Her tone was calm but tinged with regret.

“Despite having to live off the proceeds from selling loot because he wasn’t receiving his stipend, the porter invested most of that money in me and used the rest to feed the poor. Not knowing this, I despised him and suspected him of embezzlement, foolishly reporting the only person who understood me. I am a sinner, but… Porter Lee Rin is not.”

She too knelt down.

“I’m sorry, Lucy.”

She bowed her head to the floor with a thud.

“I’m truly sorry, Rin.”

The magician flew in between them and took her place.

Tigria also knelt demurely and shed tears.

“I’m sorry, Hero. I’m sorry, Rin…”

Beyond shock, no one knew how to handle this situation.

Even Airan was confused, looking at the Hero for cues, when Rainford shouted almost convulsively:

“The porter has bewitched the women of the hero party to make them tell lies!”

His perfect plan had shattered.

It wasn’t just the plan that broke, but the Shield Knight’s pride as well.

“Like the Second Hero’s thief, he has bewitched women to take his side!”

“…Is that true?”

“Come to think of it, they are all women…”

Some people began to waver at this absurd claim.

Good, ripples were forming. Now if he just threw in more provocative topics, he might not be able to reverse the situation completely, but he could at least make it even.

However, Rainford’s smug smile was once again distorted by Crown Princess Gyanal.

“The one who is lying is the Shield Knight!”

“Your Highness!”

“I am merely the illegitimate child of Emperor, raised in the Zramun Archipelago under the protection of Duke Airan Dekarlun. As someone who didn’t exist in the imperial family! I had no intention of ever leaving the archipelago, but this insolent man stole and read the Duke’s letter of concern and forcibly brought me here to make me Crown Princess. In the process, the Zramun Archipelago was destroyed, and I… was dragged here helplessly after losing my beloved fiancé.”

With that, Gyanal removed the thick gloves covering her hands.

The imperial seal ring glittered on her finger.

“Not only did he arbitrarily depose Crown Princess Rinasien Karlun from her position and beat her, but he also laid hands on His Majesty the Emperor, assassinated him, then forced this imperial seal ring onto me and made me forge these documents. Even now, His Majesty’s corpse… lies cold in his chamber where no one looks…”

“Gyanal Karlun!”

The Shield Knight, with bloodshot eyes, called the Crown Princess’s name in a tearing voice.

Not to be outdone, Airan also drew his sword.

“Seize that traitor!”

“Just try it!”

In an instant, Rainford formed ranks with nearly a hundred imperial guards.

Even if he were alone rather than with a hundred, he was confident he could hold out for days.

“Can you break through my defense?”

“You young fool, let me tell you why you can’t find a proper woman.”

Airan leisurely admonished the Shield Knight.

“You’re too trapped in your own thoughts. A good lover is like a gem—you have to dig to know its value. You only judge by appearances.”

“What does that have to do with—”

But the Shield Knight couldn’t finish his sentence.

The sound of heavy armor shaking the ground came from inside the imperial palace.

This rumbling was the sound of multiple troops marching in unison.

“Even now, you’re the same. A shield can only block the front. The back is defenseless.”

BANG!

Through the roughly flung open palace gates, Lowellina’s forces poured out.

At their head was Garin, Airan’s husband.

Due to the island’s policy prohibiting the entry of large-scale forces, Airan had sent his main force to a military stronghold where Garin was stationed, then transported them via the teleportation magic circle inside the palace.

“Teleportation is a key strategic point! The sentries wouldn’t have surrendered it so easily!”

“You arrogant fool.”

Sighing, Airan revealed the answer.

“Every soldier in the palace was personally selected by me. Not one has passed without my approval. And you too were personally chosen by me. Listen well, you are the greatest failure of my life, Rainford.”

Garin’s troops, stationed at the Church Nation’s strategic point, combined with others to surround Rainford with over a thousand soldiers.

Add to that the hero party, who had rescued Rin and Naidrian and were ready for battle, plus Lucy quietly glaring at him.

“Checkmate.”

The master of reversal was certain of victory.